What Are We Doing About Diversity?

In our monthly LeaderLines emails, we explore topics to challenge ourselves to be better leaders in the outdoors. Today, we discuss why creating an inclusive community is an important goal for The Mountaineers.

Creating an inviting and diverse membership is an important goal for all of us. It's a challenge because building an inviting, diverse, inclusive environment for learning and adventure will take many steps and The Mountaineers, with a predominantly white membership, could do more to make progress on this journey.

Why does diversity matter at The Mountaineers?

When we have a diverse membership, we become greater than the sum of our parts. Acknowledging and leveraging our similarities and differences can lead to increased creativity and innovation in how we lead our programs.

A diverse membership is a true sign that we are becoming a more inclusive community.

An inclusive community means not only growing membership numbers but creating long-lasting relationships with each other and the natural world.

More members leads to more leaders which means more people getting outside and being advocates for our wild places.

evidence suggests people of color support environmental issues at a higher level than white counterparts

Find allies - Connect with others who also feel passionate about diversity issues in their workplace or at The Mountaineers. Bounce ideas around, keep the conversation going.

Engage leadership - talk to your committee chairs and branch leadership about what you are doing to create a more inclusive environment.

Start building relationships with communities and organizations that are different from your own.

Marcelo Bonta's articleprovides an inviting and well thought-out road-map for tackling an issue often uncomfortable for many well-intentioned people. However, we won't remove many obstacles to this shared mission if we don't address it openly.